Method of and apparatus for recording the location and character of business



(NoModeL) 2 Sheds-Sheet -1.'

G. A. KIEIA'TIIIG'L METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR RECORDING THE 'LOUATION AND CHARACTER OF BUSINESS. No. 486,192. Patented Nov. 15, 1892.

wil asses n1: mums PETERS 00.. mom-urns 'wsnmsmm b c (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

- "0. A. KEATING-. I METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR BROOK-DING. THE LOCATION AND CHARACTER; EOEIJNESS.

No. 486,192 Patented Nov. '15; 1892.

DALLAS ALBANY z/ raw A m ffl wfldfrfllfjl a y/ W W l! '1 K05 SE 1 DUBLIN WAX W 2% 'W M MERIDIAN WAE'U W ifizfi 7 E Wiinesres axeniar THE Ncnms PEIERS B0. IMOTQLIMCL. wasn'mumu, D. c.

UNITED Mm CECIL A. KEATIN G, OF DALLAS, TEXAS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR RECORDING THE LOCATION AND CHARACTER OF BUSINESS.

:PEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,192, dated November 15, 1892.

Application filed March 16 1892- Serial No. 425.124- (No model.)

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, CECIL A. KEATING, of the city and county of Dallas, and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Method and Apparatus for Recording the Location and Character of Business which is Scattered Over a City or any Large Section of Country; and

I do hereby declare that the following is a ed by sending several agents over the same ground or by an employ making several trips to perform the work which should have been completed in his first, and also in many other ways too numerous to mention. To avoid these difficulties, I make use of the method and apparatus illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a map of the district in which the business is located. Fig. 2 shows an ordinary account-book in which the proper entries are made, and Fig. 3 shows a number of indicating-pins of various forms which are used for marking locations on the map.

Si milar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The map A may represent any city, State, or other section of country, and will show all the towns, railroads, and in case of a city the streets, so that any point therein may be readily located, and it should be fixed to a board or other backing which will properly retain the indicating-pins B, which are to be stuck therein for the purpose of marking any desired point.

Whenever a business house has collections to be made at any point in its field of operations, one of the pins will be stuck into the map at the proper town, a separate pin being inserted for each account or other item of business at that place, and an account will be opened with that town in the register C, showing the person from whom the money is due; or, in lieu of these, it may simply refer to the number of the account, which has been properly filed, where it can be readily found. In this way any part of the territory will finally become studded with the indicating-pins, and it will then be necessary to send an agent to make collections. By any of the ordinary methods of book-keeping it would now be necessary for the collection-clerk to go all through his books and ledgers to prepare a list for the collector, in doing which many accounts would probably be overlooked and many others placed on the list which are located at such points that they cannot be reached conveniently or economically during the trip which is about to be made. By the use of my method and apparatus no such mistakes will occur, for the clerk will simply look at the map, and after marking out the ground which the-collector is to cover he has only to observe the towns where the pins are stuck and turn to his register, which is properly indexed, and find out just what account is indicated by each pin. In this way nothing can escape notice, and it is unnecessary to waste time in looking up those places in which there are no pins, and it will also be impossible to send more than one man over the same district. Upon the return of the col-' lector he will report as to each of the claims given him for collection, and any failure to report on any claim will be at once noted. After an account is settled the pin representing it is drawn, and the condition of the map will always indicate to the manager when it is necessary to make the trip again. By the use of pins of different colors or patterns it will be possible to use the same map to indicate the condition of various kinds of business. For example, a white pin might represent a bill to be collected and a black pin an inquiry for prices on goods to be sold. In one case the white pin would be notice to the collector and the black pin would indicate that a salesman should be sent. Difierent pins may indicate calls for difierent kinds of goods, so that only the salesman having charge of that class of goods would call, and almost any fact or condition necessary to be considered by the manager of the house will be apparent to him upon a simple inspection of the map, and he will thus be able to control with perfect accuracy a large business with the least possible mental eifort and without that constant reference to the books which would be unayo dable with the usual methods and uncerain.

\Vhere pins of diflrerent kinds are used to ndicate different facts or conditions, it may be convenient to stick a pin of each kind in the margin of the map and write opposite thereto what is represented by such pin; but this is not absolutely essential, as such information may be carried in the mind.

My method and apparatus are applicable to a great variety of purposes. The map and pins may be used to represent collections, business done or to be done, goods sent out as samples, advertisements placed or to be .placed at any point, and in the case of cities the location of fire-boxes, water-plugs, gaslights, electric lights, &c.,and also where they are needed or where repairs are called for, and upon reference to the register all the details with relation to any of these can be at once obtained.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method of recording the location of any object or business, which consists in removably attaching an indicator to a map at the proper locality and opening an account in a suitable book or register in the name of such locality, which account specifies all the facts necessary to be known in order to properly attend to the business recorded, substantially as set forth.

2. The method of recording the location of any object or business, and also the identity or character thereof, which consists in removably attaching an indicator of the kind calculated to show such facts to a map at the proper locality and opening an account in a suitable book or register in the name of such locality, which account specifies all the facts necessary to be known in order to properly attend to the business recorded, substantially as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for recording the location of any object or business, the combination,witl1 a suitable map mounted on a board, of indicating-pins adapted to be stuck into the map to mark a locality and a register in which an account is opened with the locality marked and showing all the facts necessary to be known in regard to the matter so located, substantially as set forth.

4. In an apparatus for recording the location of any object or business, and also the identity or character thereof, the combination, with a suitable map mounted on a board, of indicating-pins distinguishable from each other and each kind being made to represent certain predetermined facts in regard to the object located on the map, and a register in which an account is opened with the locality marked and showing all the facts necessary to be known in regard to the matter so located, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CECIL A. KEATING.

Witnesses:

E. M. DAWSON, WM. H. DE LACY. 

